The Center for Environmental Biotechnology (CEB) scientists and engineers provide expertise to ESD in microbial ecology and environmental engineering.

The personnel within CEB are supported by the Environmental Remediation Technology Program, the Energy Resources Program, and the Climate Change and Carbon Management Program. The Center for Environmental Biotechnology, houses all of the Ecology offices and laboratory facilities. The Department focuses on research in real-time direct environmental assessment and biological treatment, bioremediation, and natural attenuation.

The Center for Environmental Biotechnology maintains the highest quality and highest visibility for its research and development in these areas:

• HydroEcological Engineering Advanced Decision Support (HEADS)
• Molecular Microbial Ecology
• Real-time Direct Environmental Assessment
• Biological Treatment, Bioremediation, and Natural Attenuation

For additional information about bioremediation, check out the PBS program "Intimate Strangers: Unseen Life on Earth."

Want biodiversity? Look no further than the air around you. It could be teeming with more than 1,800 types of bacteria, according to a first-of-its-kind census of airborne microbes recently conducted by Berkeley Lab. Earth scientist Gary Andersen and colleagues used an innovative DNA test to catalog the bacteria in air samples taken from the Texas cities of San Antonio and Austin. Surprisingly, they found a widely varied bacterial population that rivals the diversity found in soil. They also found naturally occurring relatives of microbes that could be used in bioterrorist attacks — although many of these relatives are harmless. Full story. Other links: http://www.the-scientist.com/news/display/38145/ http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa003&articleID=9B426131-E7F2-99DF-31803CBBE807C66A